Although host China has said the Iranian nuclear issue won’t be on the summit’s agenda, the issue is expected to arise in separate meetings between Ahmadinejad and Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the forum’s fringes. A warm reception to Ahmadinejad would strengthen perceptions of the SCO as a new challenge to Washington’s interests, say analysts, particularly in light of the decade-old grouping’s efforts to strengthen its influence over security and economic affairs. “Particularly from the U.S. viewpoint, it’s a significant development and not altogether welcome,” said Tim Huxley, senior fellow for Asia-Pacific security at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Observers will also be looking for other signs of strengthening SCO-Iran relations, including possible steps to move Iran from observer status to formal membership. Even without formal membership, Iran’s presence within the SCO has changed outside perceptions of the group.
SHANGHAI, China — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday for the summit of a regional security grouping, a visit that could indicate whether the forum will evolve into an anti-U.S. bloc.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization claims it isn’t aimed at any third parties. Yet its dominant members, China and Russia, are frequently at odds with Washington and have resisted U.S. efforts to seek tougher U.N. action in the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.
Although host China has said the Iranian nuclear issue won’t be on the summit’s agenda, the issue is expected to arise in separate meetings between Ahmadinejad and Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the forum’s fringes. A warm reception to Ahmadinejad would strengthen perceptions of the SCO as a new challenge to Washington’s interests, say analysts, particularly in light of the decade-old grouping’s efforts to strengthen its influence over security and economic affairs. “Particularly from the U.S. viewpoint, it’s a significant development and not altogether welcome,” said Tim Huxley, senior fellow for Asia-Pacific security at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Observers will also be looking for other signs of strengthening SCO-Iran relations, including possible steps to move Iran from observer status to formal membership. Even without formal membership, Iran’s presence within the SCO has changed outside perceptions of the group.
“Iran’s participation will attract additional attention to the SCO, will increase it’s clout,” said Venera Galyamova of the Center for China research in Kazakhstan.
Russia and China deny Iran’s presence indicates a hidden agenda for the summit and portray the SCO as a neutral force focused on security and trade among its members. “It would not be correct to search for a special subtext for Iran participating,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in answer to written questions about the summit. The six-nation SCO was set up 10 years ago to deal with border disputes but which has slowly expanded its reach into counterterrorism, defense, energy and economic cooperation.
The SCO’s other members are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Pakistan, Mongolia, and India are also attending as observers, while Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai is a special guest at the meeting.
While China denies the SCO is a military alliance, it offers China’s communist regime a high-profile platform to flex its growing regional influence. China has especially stressed the SCO’s progress in boosting regional security and economic ties among its members, and the official Xinhua News Agency said the summit will inaugurate a business forum within the SCO framework.
About US$2 billion (1.65 billion euros) in contracts and loans are also expected to be signed over the course of summit, Xinhua quoted Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Yu Guangzhou as saying.
During pre-summit meetings Wednesday, China signed agreements with Tajikistan and Kazakhstan for the funding of hydropower stations, improvements to rail transport, and electricity generation and transmission. As leaders began arriving late Tuesday, Shanghai launched a massive security clampdown, closing schools, offices, and major transportation arteries.
Hundreds of officers stood guard near the government guest house where Chinese President Hu Jintao met leaders ahead of Thursday’s summit.
Windows were screwed closed in office buildings overlooking the motorcade route in western Shanghai. The SCO’s mostly authoritarian governments are frequently criticized for alleged human rights abuses.
Monitoring group Human Rights Watch, in a statement Thursday, condemned those states for allegedly “committing serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the name of counterterrorism.”
